The AuctionBytes Blog has been giving a voice to online merchants since its launch in 2005. Named one of the world's top 30 blogs in 2008 by "Blogging Heroes." Weigh in with your thoughts on the joys and pitfalls of selling online.

By: Ina Steiner

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As soon as eBay announced it would break up the company into two separate businesses - eBay and PayPal - analysts speculated whether eBay would try to sell the marketplaces business to China's Alibaba.

An analyst published a new post on Seeking Alpha discussing one of the reasons Alibaba would find it an attractive acquisition: ePacket, and linking to a 2011 EcommerceBytes article in which we explained the U.S. Postal Service had entered into a deal with eBay and China Post to help Chinese sellers send small packages to the U.S. in a much shorter period of time than regular international delivery services" - and including tracking!

The Seeking Alpha post points out that ePacket is cheaper to ship than the cheapest USPS rates within the U.S. itself ("notice this, it's cheaper to ship compared to U.S. rates, but already including the China shipping portion of the trip! 30-50% cheaper, as reckoned.").

The analyst said for inexpensive, lightweight items such as iPhone cases or electronics cables, "you'll find tons of Chinese suppliers selling sub-$1 items with ... free shipping" on eBay, but says on Amazon, "what you'll find are items priced as low as $0.01, but with $3-$4-$5 shipping costs" - giving eBay a huge competitive advantage.

"So," he wrote, "if Alibaba were to acquire eBay it would gain this advantage for itself - and for the giant troupe of Chinese suppliers it already has in its websites! Not surprisingly, these agreements offer tremendous value precisely for Alibaba, if it were ever to acquire eBay."

If Alibaba acquired eBay, how do you think it would affect eBay.com? Are the floodgates to Chinese sellers already open, or would an Alibaba acquisition of eBay flood the U.S. marketplace with cheap imports thanks in part to the U.S. Postal Service?

by: TeddyElectron

Cheap Chinese merchandise at the top of the search results. Everything else way down on the bottom.

How an Alibaba Acquisition of eBay Could Impact Sellers

by: Bill

Sun Jan 11 23:05:20 2015

Since China is the largest holder of treasury bonds our government will do what ever they have to do to appease the country. If they do not they will start selling the bonds and our government will have to print more money to buy the bonds. If we get to that point we will be in the through of massive inflation that would make the '70's look tame.

How an Alibaba Acquisition of eBay Could Impact Sellers

by: iheartjacksparrow

Sun Jan 11 23:11:24 2015

Since Alibaba has 11Main, I don't know why they would want to also take over eBay. I thought the whole point of 11Main was to be an eBay alternative. And eBay has such a bad reputation now, does Alibaba want to be associated with a site that is reviled by so many people? As many have stated before, it's unlikely eBay can ever recover its past glory thanks to JD has his cohorts.

How an Alibaba Acquisition of eBay Could Impact Sellers

by: Anonymous Annie

Sun Jan 11 23:26:33 2015

Sometimes people buy the competition to eliminate the competition. Microsoft. Symantec. McAfee. Apple. Just a few that come to my mind, I'm sure other people here can think of other examples. --- If Alibaba bought eBay, it's easy for me to imagine that this could be their ultimate end-game. And that would be the end of eBay.

Would it actually be a mercy killing?

If you think about it, the eBay we knew died long ago. The old eBay is never coming back. It was the victim of an experiment gone horribly wrong.

How an Alibaba Acquisition of eBay Could Impact Sellers

by: brokentoys19

Sun Jan 11 23:48:00 2015

Anonymous Annie beat me to it. Mercy killing! LOL.

EBAY = Euthanasia Befits Alibaba Yaysayers

How an Alibaba Acquisition of eBay Could Impact Sellers

by: bb6

Mon Jan 12 00:21:43 2015

I say they buy it and re-name it. Hopefully they change a bunch of the rules to make it a better selling platform. They have a track record of creating a good place for sellers to sell merchandise. Fingers Crossed!

How an Alibaba Acquisition of eBay Could Impact Sellers

by: LasVagueness

Mon Jan 12 00:23:06 2015

I may be the odd man out here, but I would WELCOME an acquisition by Alibaba.

How an Alibaba Acquisition of eBay Could Impact Sellers

by: mazelgirl

Mon Jan 12 00:32:51 2015

Not going to happen--the sites are very different. They don't need eBay and if they think they need to shut eBay down to do well they're not going to do well in the US either. 11 Main reminds me of more Amazon then eBay.

How an Alibaba Acquisition of eBay Could Impact Sellers

by: Ric

Mon Jan 12 00:46:22 2015

I can think of many reasons Alibaba would want to acquire eBay's marketplace beyond the USPS ePacket association...

1) Instant marketplace expansion of 11 Main without the need for spending millions in advertising to build name recognition of their new marketplace.

2) 11 Main would instantly have more categories, more sellers ( with a little overlap ) more merchandise and an established but weary buyer base.

3) Acquisition would eliminate competition and the looming battle for traffic.

4) Payments... Alibaba has their own payment platform AliPay. By assimilating eBay, they could gradually expose/introduce AliPay as an alternative to PayPal. While I am sure there will be some kind of deal made between eBay & PayPal for keeping PayPal in place post split - Alibaba as new owners of eBay would likely find the opportunity to expand their payments business and profit margins irresistible.

If Alibaba is going to develop into a serious player in the third party eCommerce industry, then there are more reasons to acquire eBay than not to. Acquiring eBay make more sense than waiting out eBay's slow death at the hands of management that fails to appreciate or understand the needs the diminishing number of small sellers who pay the bills.

How an Alibaba Acquisition of eBay Could Impact Sellers

by: mazelgirl

Mon Jan 12 01:32:42 2015

Alibaba could have more sellers now-it's by invitation only.

They are looking for stores with big players-not a bunch of little folks like eBay has.

They don't need eBay to get the same big players eBay has. They could get them now--it's those big name players that would lead people to 11 Main--not the other way around.

If eBay is as bad as everyone says--and sales are in the toilet because people don't like them why would a like 11 Main want to inherit all the contempt people have for them?

I just don't see it-It will be sold-but not to the Chinese. The Chinese are too smart.

How an Alibaba Acquisition of eBay Could Impact Sellers

by: thehosst

Mon Jan 12 01:45:03 2015

The nastiest of all ecommerce tricks is:

eBay CHANGES dates for delivery times, when you buy it says 1 week, when you pay it says 3 weeks.

eBay HIDES the shipping origin of many items, until you buy of course.

eBay DOES NOT let China sellers to be affected by shipping feedback.

eBay DOES NOT require China seller to have a phone number or full name registered as they require to USA sellers.

China support is pretty bad and takes long, eBay DOES NOT allow feedback affect them because of this.

But in Amazon is the same, you are UNABLE TO SEE FEEDBACK or profile details for China sellers on Amazon. They sold 1 Billion items last year, 1 Billion less opportunities for USA sellers to make a profit and buy made is China. Now the strategy is cut the middle men, perhaps when they run out of sales and money, we can send the China stuff to the moon!

eBay does not need to be acquired by Alibaba, they are Alibaba with bad ideas and policies.

How an Alibaba Acquisition of eBay Could Impact Sellers

by: Tiffee Jasso

Mon Jan 12 03:01:09 2015

If Alibaba buys Ebay it will be to shut it down to all sellers except those from China and those who sell Chinese imports. I can't see what advantage that would be for sellers or buyers.

How an Alibaba Acquisition of eBay Could Impact Sellers

by: sasikat9

Mon Jan 12 06:47:22 2015

I would think it would be great for them....

But then again I haven't bought anything on fleecebay in years. New owners won't make a difference in my buying.

We only sell and do quite well as there isn't any Chinese sellers in our catagories.

How an Alibaba Acquisition of eBay Could Impact Sellers

by: ewegolf

Mon Jan 12 07:28:16 2015

If Alibaba bought ebay I would offer them my specifically designed depreciation table for Goodwill which would be set at a starting point of 38 cents.

How an Alibaba Acquisition of eBay Could Impact Sellers

by: Rexford

Mon Jan 12 07:35:35 2015

Both JD and the US Postal Service have done everything they can to give eBay to China, so it only seems logical that Alibaba would eventually acquire them.

In protest I have not bought anything off of eBay in years, but this would certainly ensure that I would never do so again.

How an Alibaba Acquisition of eBay Could Impact Sellers

by: Flying Childers

Mon Jan 12 08:24:19 2015

Amazing isn't it how our own US Government has sold us down the river. Everyone who's bashing Ebay should first be looking at Uncle Sam. Think about this deal that they made- to specifically undercut small US sellers like us in favor of the mass produced by slave labor Chinese goods. What kind of government does that to its citizens?? We all get caught up in the personalities of the Ebay/Etsy management, but maybe we should be writing to our senators and representatives in Congress to let them know that we are a big voting block in the USA where they live!

Another thing- this past year there has been massive speculation regarding a takeover of Etsy by Alibaba. After reading this, don't think it will ever happen.

Any Etsy sellers out there care to comment?

How an Alibaba Acquisition of eBay Could Impact Sellers

by: Al G

Mon Jan 12 08:31:06 2015

@Bill -Economics is a little more complicated than sell bonds --> inflation kicks in. A possible scenario: Chinese tries to sell bonds, bond market collapes, bonds worth much less --> some inflation, bonds worth even less --> investors head into stock market --> stock market goes up.What happened to all those bonds the Japanese had in the 1980s? The US real estate they owned? All those doomsday pundits spouting off? Maybe only the doomsday pundits are still spouting, except their spouts are pointed in a different direction.

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Who else produces mobile phone covers and interconnection cables? Finland? Russia? Brazil? Namibia? It's the PRofC - they own it already, so why not get a better deal logistically. If UPS or FedEx offered the 中国人民共和国 a deal, I'm sure they'd be interested. So why not be interested in eBay.It costs more to transport those widgets halfway across the Earth than to produce them. It's all about logistics.

How an Alibaba Acquisition of eBay Could Impact Sellers

by: gizmo

Mon Jan 12 09:01:48 2015

Well, the Chinese already have ebay geared , & alibaba would just polish it off. The small seller is screwed no matter who jumps in. No one at ebay cares about the small guy , never has , never will. Ebay is worthless , more & more every passing day. The Ebay venue is a very lonely place. If I had to imagine what hell is , it would closely resemble ebay.

How an Alibaba Acquisition of eBay Could Impact Sellers

by: laurengrace

Mon Jan 12 09:13:47 2015

I think it would be a good thing. Alibaba treats their sellers well and offers plenty of support. I sell on 11 Main and have experienced the difference. The name should be changed and lots of advertising to assure customers the old ebay is gone and the new is now once again a level playing field. I hope someone buys it and breathes new life into it, cause its dead now.